strohmin wrote:Lets be serious.... With Holmgren coaching, Seneca Wallace would have been starting or we would not be running the offense with his strengths. Its hard to tell because there are too many variables.

Easily the worst performance by the refs in the history of Super Bowls. I've even met Niner fans who were outraged by the way the Hawks got screwed. Don't forget that when Holmgren was running the team, a lot of Niner fans were rooting for the Hawks to win that game because Holmgren was their homeboy. He grew up in SF and was a great offensive coordinator for the Niners in their golden years.

85% of the fans in the crowd were waving urine colored towels around. The refs feared for their lives that day and made the calls that made sure they returned home with all family members unharmed. Not a soul in the media looked into the possibility of a payoff for fear they themselves would just not make it home one night. It was a mafia thing.

It didn't matter what QB played that game, but Russ might have avoided a sack that Hass couldn't, and may have found the wide-open receiver in the other end of the endzone rather than throwing to the pushing-off D-jack. If memory serves, Joe J was standing there waving is arms he was so alone on that play.

"...Seattle has become the capital city of the New NFL" - Kip Earlywine Remembering "The Radish"...

RichNhansom wrote:22.7 QBR is not that hard to improve on. Unbelievable some say we didn't do enough to win.

We didn't. You don't allow a 75-yard TD run and a trick play to go for a TD and expect to win when your offense isn't sustaining drives.

Yes, the officiating was awful and definitely impacted the game, but the injury to Manuel was a much bigger deal, imo. Plus, Stevens dropping multiple passes didn't help.

The team we saw in the SB didn't resemble the team that had been tearing up the league all season, folks. I don't know if the shoddy officiating got everyone all nervous or what, but the way the Seahawks were playing in 2005, they should have been able to overcome damn near every obstacle they faced. They didn't.

SuperFreak wrote:Russell wins that game because we put up more than 21 points with him, Matt always panicked and choked when the going got tough.

That's what I'm sayin! The Stealers wouldn't have been able to grind it against us and no amount of trick plays would have been enough to keep up. The whole offense tanked (with the exception of maybe Big Walt) because they were behind, getting all of the calls against them and saw Matty freaking out. Wilson get's his eye-of-tiger on when we're in the hole. No way he would allow the O to slump like that. When the chips are down, he elevates and the rest of the O gravitates.

But I've never seen any team have to deal with that kind of adversity, especially in the Superbowl. The Packers fans all bitch about the hail mary this season; SB XL had about 5-7 shitty play calls of that magnitude, and they all went against one team.

You can control what the other team does to you. You can control what you do to the other team. You can't control what the refs do to you. I haven't seen a team yet with the fortitude to not just say "f**k it. no way the refs are letting us win this game" when things are going that wrong.

I know...I know...it's how many years after the fact. BUT today it's the off season and I decided to man up and watch the SBXL again..from a non homer approach. This is the first time I've seen the game since it has been played.

I'm only half way through the first qtr and frankly Hasselbeck is playing like dog poop and Chris Grey screwed the pooch on a completely unneccesary hold that killed a drive.

Matt has missed two easy passes. He ran a yard short for a first down and probably could have run for 15-20. He totally pussed out.

So far in this game RW would have thrown for probably two TD's. The steelers are playing like crap. 2 penalties for offensive line jumps and it is totally a Steeler crowd. We should be handing Pittsburg their asses.

I'll add more observations but it is a lot of time invested ... As I watch the game again with fresh eyes the mistakes WE made are glaring.

The question is...Would Russell Wilson have done a better job than Matt Hasselbeck?

So far in the first two series on offense I would have to say..at THIS stage in Wilson's experience the answer is clearly yes.

Even with the same play calling Hasselbeck is missing easy passes. Most are being caught but the balls are poorly thrown. DJ is making Hasselbeck look good. A simple screen to our league leading halfback is poorly placed and goes nowhere. A wide open WR 15 yards downfield middle left is overthrown by several feet. On the second series a wide open WR running down the left sideline in overthrown by ten feet and nearly intercepted. Both of those horrible misses are easy throws for Wilson.

Matt did make a great throw at the end of the second series but Chris Grey put a choke hold on the DE and a great play unneccesarily turned into a ten yard penalty. A reversal of approximately 30 yards.

All in all Matt sucked in the first part of the game in accuracy. Wilson would have delivered more catchable balls and not overthrown the two that Hasselbeck really blew.

This thread may seem stupid to some fans. Could have...should have...and those EVIL refs.

Still that game was our ONLY SB experience and we can draw from the game 411 that could be usefull.

For some reason Pittsburg appeared to be the team with the Super Bowl jitters. They made numerous mistakes in the first qtr. Todays Seahawks would have torched them for at least two TD's in the first half of the first qtr.

I know it is dumb to think more than one game at a time ahead but for us I think it is a forgone conclusion that we will make the playoffs this year...either by winning the NFCW outright and having home field thruout down to a dogfight for a wild card position if we are unlucky in our own division which is possible with so much strength to challege right here in the West.

About halfway into the run this year I hope we start studying the leaders in the other divisions with a seperate super secret Super Bowl task force identifying te tendencies of our likely opponents in the playoffs.

It's amazing how we hang on to mythology we believed at the time. All we ever talk about is how we got burned by the officiating. A couple of questionable calls and we would have won...blah ...blah...blah...

It's nice to have a video of the whole game we can play back and forth to really look hard and clearly as to what occured. It was a shock to me to watch the game and as the OP questions...would RW have done any better? Our defense was great for that game from what I saw so far in the first qtr. Pittsburg's DB's sucked. Their offense sucked. 2.. 3 and outs in the first half of the first qtr. Wilson would have shreded them like we played SF in Seattle.

My memory does not recall how badly Hasselbeck was throwing the ball as the game began.

Ya... it's 20/20 hindsight but it is what it is without me sitting there in front of the TV desperately wanting success.

The truth is that Matt was TRYING to push the ball downfield but he was not getting the job done. Pittsburg was on it's heals and our QB couldn't put his foot on their throats and score. Being a grade A Homer I just didn't see it at the time. I do find it interesting to look back on the game with a clearer perspective.